I teach physics and for each unit the students get a packet. The textbook is horrible, so I use these packets instead. I use about 6 sheets of paper per student (so a total of 840 pages per unit) and there are 14 units (so now a total of 11,760 average). Their projects and labs are all posted on line and they complete them electronically and submit them to me electronically. I have 7 computers in my classroom that they use in groups.

I also print out their quizzes and tests, so that adds another couple of thousand pages per year.

I'd love to go 100% paperless, but without more computers it is difficult. It is also hard because not all of my students have computers at home.

When not testing or quizzing, I average about 6/day. Some days I use none. Other days I hand out 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 sheet per student or group for in-class problems. I project lab tasks/prompts on a Google Presentation slide for students to record in their research notebooks.

I used soooo much paper today. I've got 156 students. On any given day I give my students multiple handouts, or we take multiple page quizzes or tests. I'm an environmentalist's worst nightmare. Please don't judge me too harshly. :o

I use maybe 100 sheets per semester. Most of what we do (middle school social studies, high school history, high school english) is digital but sometimes I like to give them paper for a change of pace (they spend most of the day on their laptops).

I use about 5 pages per student per class. We have gone to no textbook, so we use handouts. I have them available on-line as well, but I find that students get more out of the reading when they do it with pen or highlighter in hand, marking it up. I am concerned about losing that if they simply read on the screen. An option would be to take notes on the reading, but they do better when they see their notes in context.

Including the notebook paper that my students use for writing journals on (if only we had enough computers for everyone to blog!), I would say we use probably around 85 pieces of paper per day in my Spanish & English classes, sometimes more, often less.

I only gave out paper for the course syllabus and progress reports. Otherwise, students do most activities through Edmodo on the computer. One fellow teacher could not believe I hardly used any paper. She was amazed the students completed and turned in assignments digitally.

I use 4 pieces of paper per student per quarter. I teach 6th grade literature. Most of what we do is online (blogs, class wiki, Google docs, and various web programs), in novels or picture books, or in a writing journal.

We do two large projects per quarter, for that I give them a 2 page packet with instructions and a rubric (it's nice to take notes about project expectations on the paper).

With 72 students and 4 pieces of paper each quarter, that's 1,152 pieces a paper per year. Divide that by 180 school days and you get about 6 pieces of paper per day. Next year I intend to put their rubrics online too, so that will drop.

The grad class that I teach is 100% paperless. But...I also teach 3rd grade. There are some things that are paper is needed for until I figure out how to interactively use the computer for some of those things we do off-line. While I rarely photocopy anything (maybe 60 sheets a week) we do use our notebooks for notetaking. Once I figure out how to replicate some of our note-taking (flip charts, door charts, pyramid charts, accordian books) which all fold and flip then I would be 100% paperless. So...we probably use 100 pieces of notebook paper a day. Which would be roughly 20,0000 pieces a year. Holy vow! Until I did the actual math I thought that I was being pretty green :(.

I use about 130 sheets each day in my algebra and biology classes :(I am very jealous of those who use 0.My school has little technology for students to use. I try to use 1/2 sheets, scrap paper (reused), and white boards as much as possible. I am hopful that my school has bought their last set of algebra dn biology textbooks... from now on these should be digital :)

Grade 11 social science= 0 paper. It's all on the wiki and our Google docs; test, presentations, surveys, the whole mess is online. In the past when I would photocopy an article, today I scan it and upload to the wiki. I was the first in line at the photocopier and now I am never there.

The only thing I photocopy are rubrics and permission slips, though most recently I photocopied Scratch cards to help my students through the learning process. I also photocopied my sub plans and from time to time worksheets for classes who can't handle being in the lab---I go to their classroom instead.

One way to eliminate the use of grade book is to use an iphone/ipod app teach mate for attendance and scores recording. This is a great help to me as a teaching because like you guys I'm trying to minimize the use of papers as possible.

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Teach Paperless: Now!

TeachPaperless began in February 2009 as a blog detailing the experiences of one teacher in a paperless classroom. It has grown to be something much more than that. In January 2011, TeachPaperless became a collaboratively written blog dedicated to conversation and commentary about the intertwined worlds of digital technology, new media, and education.

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TeachPaperless was noted as a Twitterer worth ReTweeting by Education Week's Digital Education blog. Also in Ed Week: "Shelly Blake-Plock has had some really intriguing posts already this year and I'm already behind. Considering he published 639 entries on his TeachPaperless blog in 2009 it's going to be hard to keep up, but well worth the try."

“When I originally contacted Shelley last week to inquire as to whether or not he would be willing to talk to my staff, he jumped right in, and he didn’t disappoint. What impressed me most about him as I listened to him describe his practice was his clear vision of what it meant for his students to function in a classroom that he designed: it was about them learning. He truly designed the environment with their learning–their unbridled learning–in mind. His decision was not a secretarial one, but rather came from a desire to push students to take control of information gathering, processing, and creating.” – Chalkdust 101

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"I think you have some great ideas for teachers, and as we do professional development around the state of Maryland, we will point teachers to your blog." Debbie Vickers of Thinkport.org a partnership between Maryland Public Television and Johns Hopkins University's Center for Technology in Education

"The invention of the computer promised to lead us to a paperless society but has failed to deliver on that promise... until now, perhaps?" TeachPaperless was featured by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning as an Everyday Innovation

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Photo Credit: MJ Wojewodzki; a portion of a painted wall in the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii [2006]